Townsquare Capital LLC Makes New $507,000 Investment in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. CWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 25.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the second quarter valued at $154,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at $61,714,024.80. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 23,240 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $116,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,177,512 shares in the company, valued at $75,887,560. This represents a 0.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,622,112 shares of company stock worth $7,383,768 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $40.02. 1,580,975 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 940,774. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $35.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. Verona Pharma plc has a 12-month low of $11.39 and a 12-month high of $40.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of -20.84 and a beta of 0.46.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

About Verona Pharma

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.